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With the Korean War raging, Mays was drafted into the Army early in 1952, and he would spend most of that season and all of the 1953 season in the service. Mays spent most of his time in the Army playing baseball. By his estimate, he played 180 or so games while in the service. When he re-joined the Giants for spring training in 1954 there was talk of the Giants, who had slipped to fifth place 35 games behind the Dodgers in 1953, as the favorite for the 1954 pennant with Mays back in the lineup, which is sort of amazing when you consider that a player with only 155 major league games, a .266 batting average, and a .459 slugging average could make such a difference. But, it would come to pass.
A great tribute to a true icon.
Thanks RA!
You’re welcome! So you played baseball, right?
I reached my teen-age years in 1951 and I was a baseball fan. I was a batboy for the Atlanta Crackers when Eddie Mathews was their star player. Of course, I became famous for that homer against the Dodgers to win the pennant for the Giants in 1951. So the fifties was a great decade to follow Mays, Mantle, and Mathews through their great seasons. Enjoyed your post.
Thanks Bob.
Both my Father and I were Giants fans for one reason: Willie Mays.
Wonderful. I grew up in the Church of Willie Mays who was my dad’s favorite ballplayer so as a young boy he became, and remains, mine. Dad passed in 2014 but to this day whenever seeing anything about Willie I think of dad and that’s a good thing.
In 1962 Dad and I went onto the field at Wrigley during batting practice and met Willie. The data on baseball-reference.com is incorrect as I remember Mr Mays being at least seven feet tall.
Ha! I can imagine. When I was 7, my dad took me to Wrigley to see Ernie Banks play.
Two other notes on Willie:
In that 16 inning 1-0 duel between Marichal and Spahn that Willie won with the home run, earlier in the game he threw out a Braves runner at home plate preserving the tie.
During the infamous 1965 brawl in which Marichal swung his bat and hit Dodger catcher Johnny Roseboro on the head, it was Mays, in the midst of the chaos, who walked the bleeding Roseboro off the field and sat with him in the Dodgers dugout until medical help arrived.
About a decade ago, I worked with Felix Mantilla’s son. He shared a hotel room with with Hank Aaron when they were on the road in 1958 (even superstars didn’t have their own hotel room). He had some good stories.
Good point on Item 2 – I’d meant to include that in the post but couldn’t figure out how.
His offense alone puts him among the all-time greats, but his defense moves him near the top of that list.
I wish we had more film of him at his defensive peak. Reading about some of those catches and throws is thrilling but too bad no video.
Willie taking the blood splattered Roseboro off the field.
Willie Mays was my favorite player growing up in the late 60s – early 70s, even though I was in the greater NYC media market. I never got to meet Willie Mays, but in 1987 I met Willie McCovey. There are some superstars who don’t loom as large in person as they do in your mind, but I’m 6′ tall, and I had to crane my neck just to look up and say “he– … hummina hummina … hello” to him. Very polite and charming he was.
I can only imagine how tall Willie Mays must have been to a boy in 1962.
Houston?
That’s my memory. I heard it on the radio as I was driving about 20 years ago and the description was that the interview had taken place in Houston.
When my family moved to the Bay Area in early Summer 1963 I got to go to Candlestick and see all of those great players. Marichal and McCovey (one of my heroes) were impressive, but the player that put me in awe was Mays. He was, and is, the most athletic ballplayer I’ve ever seen: like a coiled spring at the plate, ready to burst. And roaming centerfield like a lion. He also seemed more engaged in the game, more aware of every second, than any other player out there.
My only regret is that we didn’t move a year earlier so that I could have watched The Duel, the greatest pitched game in baseball history. All of those HofF’ers out there on the field — Mays, McCovey, Marichal, Cepeda, Matthews, Aaron, Spahn (and Perry in the dugout). The winningest pitcher of the ’60s (Marichal, still a kid) and an old man (Spahn) who happened to be the winningest left-hander of all time.
Thanks from a Giants fan, a great post, and tribute to the Say Hey Kid.
Wanted to mention that Joe Posnanski–a terrific writer at The Athletic–recently compiled a “100 best” list for baseball, placing Willie at #1. Posnanski acknowledged that some of his rankings were personal and a bit quirky but he got down to business for the final grouping. Unfortunately, I don’t think his stories supporting each choice can be read without a subscription, but it seems likely this will appear in book form at some point.
Thanks Doug.
He finally finished that huh? I recall him starting it maybe 6-7 years ago and then ‘just quitting it without explanation after he’d done the first 40 or 50.
Yes, it was quite a slog, and I missed lots of it due to cheaping out on subscriptions. The final three were Bonds, Ruth, and Mays.
As I said elsewhere, I would never ask for a many-Like button. But if we had one, this post (and the Comments) would get a bunch. Thanks, tigerlily.
Appreciate that Mark.
I grew up a rabid Pirates fan in that era, and remembered Willie and his Giant teammates with some irritation because they always seemed to find a way to beat my Buccos.
Except for 1960, of course.
Yes, but even more tiresome was living with the Yankees’ dominance, but your Pirates took care of that.
Was it Mays or Mantle the first to be described as a 5 tool player? Great tribute.
Mazeroski! Still, the ’62 World Series was most annoying for Yankee haters.
McCovey said it was the hardest ball he ever hit. Right into Richardson’s glove.
I can’t think of a better player than Willie May’s. He could have held the stolen base record but he only stole a base when he felt the team needed him to. He did everything at an elite level.
Thanks thelonious. It was Mays…well, I’m almost certain it was Mays. Mantle was a pretty decent defensive centerfielder early on; but, he was no Mays with the glove.